In old age we are like a batch of letters that someone has sent. We are no longer in the past, we have arrived.
quote by Knut Hamsun
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
It Isn't Everyday One Makes An Order, And Throws Out The Past
It isn’t everyday one makes an order, throws out the past
Goes through the piles of old papers
And sees here a missed opportunity there another time of life
Which one has long forgotten
Throwing most of the business papers away
And holding on to most personal things
One finds letters one did not answer
And dreams one did not begin to realize
Pictures are most painful
People no longer here
Loved ones in youth
Oneself as one was and will never be again
A life in these things
And almost gone
Cancelled bank books
Money one had once and no longer has
Love and people who were once one’s whole life
And are now strangers
The children
In so many different ages and times
The children no longer children
The past too too much past
Weighing me down with grief and despair
Asking myself how I can go on and for how much longer
Before someone else has to deal with the mess
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Hoping Of Happy New Year
Hoping of happy New Year
The year has passed
The New Year has arrived
All the pains sadness and angriness has become past
All the happiness, sweetness and love has arrived
All the sickness, Madness and childness has gone
All the matureness, intelligence and hopes has arrived
My all the things are now my past
My all concentration is just focusing on future
New Year has arrived with hope
A hope of goodness in everything
A hope that my country will be in peace
A hope that all problems may come with a simple solution
May my all the relations become more sweet and loveable?
May my all pathetic memories be just past
May my life be quite simple
May my life be full of joy
Past year is a past don’t matter what was it
But the future is unknown and unseen
Don’t know that what will happen
Just hope that everything will be good and ok
So I hope that every hope will not just hope
Hope we can say next year with hope that Happy New Year
poem by Fatima Obaid
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Without Lip Or Sucking Of Tongue
Of course I know 'how' I arrived.
And the length of time it took,
For anyone to notice my presence.
Although it was not my presence,
Or reason why...
That I began this journey to be noticed.
I was much too young.
Like a puppy first seeing its tail for the first time...
And curious as to where it came from.
Who knew?
I didn't!
Until I began following an attraction,
That seemed always in my mind.
Of course I 'know' how I arrived.
I first heard my voice.
And my parents noticed it.
I learned if I used it in certain ways,
They were there.
I was a baby them.
Then I connected my voice to words.
I was in awe that letters were attached.
And those letters attached used in different ways,
Made those words I said more or less effective.
Then I began to see those letters change,
As I began to print them by hand slowly.
I was amazed! .
Then I discovered certain words I shouldn't say!
I should never have been told that.
Because even today...
I will use those same words to chase people away.
Of course I know 'how' I arrived.
And I used a lot of cussing along the way.
Trust me.
But I stopped when it was pointed out to me,
I 'seemed' to have had more intelligence than that.
And whoever said that to me,
Had no clue as to how curious I was.
'Ma?
What's intelligence? '
~Someobody who asks too many questions.
And is about to get on my last nerve.~
'You talking about me? '
~Are you or are you not in my face? ~
'Why can't I ask you anything,
Before it's turned into a test? '
~And if you want to pass,
You know what to do.
Without lip or sucking of tongue.
You got that, mister? ~
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Mail Call
The letters always just evade the hand
One skates like a stone into a beam, falls like a bird.
Surely the past from which the letters rise
Is waiting in the future, past the graves?
The soldiers are all haunted by their lives.
Their claims upon their kind are paid in paper
That established a presence, like a smell.
In letters and in dreams they see the world.
They are waiting: and the years contract
To an empty hand, to one unuttered sound --
The soldier simply wishes for his name.
poem by Randall Jarrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Aliens Like You...
they were there before you arrived
their laughter is too loud and you need more time to think
to decipher
then a new batch of tired people arrive and by then
when they have already sipped their tea
you will begin to understand
you want to make them feel this place
as a home
you guide them to their rooms
you will lead them later to another floor where the garden
and pond makes them wonder
where they are now
you assure them
like yourself you too do not understand fully well what is these all about
what is next
you must keep within and then pretend again
at least, you achieve what you want
the dissolution of fear....
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Time Line
I try to read what you wrote down
The letters are in pencil and age has made them fade
Memories follow me as I walk through town
My heart for yours was not a fair trade
I tried but maybe to much
You told me secrets and I did the same
We exchanged a gentle but rough touch
Equally to blame
In the past
I too jealous
Too fast
And over zealous
In the past
You, low self esteem
Too vast
And ripping at the seem
Now in the present
I wish for the chance back
No longer to resent
The love I had and now lack.
poem by Jeremy Rascon
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Alphabet
The letters of the Jews as strict as flames
Or little terrible flowers lean
Stubbornly upwards through the perfect ages,
Singing through solid stone the sacred names.
The letters of the Jews are black and clean
And lie in chain-line over Christian pages.
The chosen letters bristle like barbed wire
That hedge the flesh of man,
Twisting and tightening the book that warns.
These words, this burning bush, this flickering pyre
Unsacrifices the bled son of man
Yet plaits his crown of thorns.
Where go the tipsy idols of the Roman
Past synagogues of patient time,
Where go the sisters of the Gothic rose,
Where go the blue eyes of the Polish women
Past the almost natural crime,
Past the still speaking embers of ghettos,
There rise the tinder flowers of the Jews.
The letters of the Jews are dancing knives
That carve the heart of darkness seven ways.
These are the letters that all men refuse
And will refuse until the king arrives
And will refuse until the death of time
And all is rolled back in the book of days.
poem by Karl Shapiro
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
S.a.d
I feel sad right now, three small letters
Inconspicuous, three small letters in a row
But they seem to hold all my depth of feeling these past months
Over you, and what you do to me when you cannot see
I've tried hard, just like those three letters
To add more
But nothing changes
Add a ly, and I'll add a lie
But still it's only 'sadly'
Add mascara, and all you get is a stream
A stream of black watercolour tracing
Down my cheeks, over my chin
Wait awhile, let the sad wear out
Stretch a bit, stretch me a bit
And all you get is an end
I'm saddened
I want more than sad
poem by Lillian P.k
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Letters Never Sent
(carly simon/jacob brackman)
In a suitcase tied with string
On the highest shelf
In the closet down the hall
Hidden from myself
Fits of madness, pools of grief
Fevers of desire
How peculiar these remain
Slavaged from the fire
For some I crumpled some I burned
Some I tore to shreds
Lifetimes later, here they are
Ones I saved instead
Letters never sent to you
Letters never sent
Never reached their destination
Mostly born of pain
Resurfaced with the purpose of
A trip down memory lane
Broken hearted, breaking hearts
All the way it went
Evidence of what I saw
My experiments
Lifes a riddle, lifes a dream
Lifes an accident
Now Im gonna set them free
Letters never sent
Letters never sent to you
Letters never sent
Once upon a time taboo
Letters never sent
Letters never sent to you
Letters never sent
Incongruous, and overdue
Letters never sent
song performed by by Carly Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I Don't Know Where The Past Is Gone
I don’t know where the past is gone
I only know most of my own life is over-
I don’t know where the past has gone
I only know so many people I loved
Are no longer here and will never be here again-
I don’t know where the past has gone
I only know that that chance I had that hope for so many years
Can never be mine in the same way again-
I don’t know where the past has gone
So many moments of beauty and love and opportunity missed and longing unrealized-
I don’t know where the past has gone
And what of it I should miss
And why I should long for it so.
I don’t know where the past has gone
And where my life was lost and why I did not do better in it-
I don’t know where the past has gone
And what will be when for me
Everything is only the Past gone
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Love Letters
She held a pack of love letters tied with ribbons and bows.
these were the love letters that she would never show.
Every one of them was dated first to last
These were the letters that held a life past.
Times may pass and things may change
But memories stay the same.
The writing of love letters had slowly disappeared
But she held on to them from year to year.
She sat with the letters in her lap.
As the tears rolled down her eyes
He had said he would be with her
Till the day he died
And fifty years later
He met his maker
And was carried to the cemetery
by the undertaker.
The letters had been written
with tenderness and love
Proclaiming every thing
Even the stars above.
He said life was meaningless if with her
His life he could not share.
And losing her was something
he could not bear.
Now that he was gone and she
Was left all alone.
The house didn’t seem
like much of a home.
She knew her children would not understand
Why she held the love letters in her hand.
These were the memories that kept her alive
And on that she couldn’t deny.
But her mind and body was fading fast
And she knew she could not last.
So to her children she bequeathed
The letters that she cherished all her life
For that was her husband, and she was his wife.
These are the love letters that your father
Wrote to me when we were young and carefree.
He told me of all that life had to offer.
And of all the love he had for me
And that he wanted to raise a family.
When you read his letters you will know
Why I loved this man so.
And now it’s time for me to go.
Because your father awaits me on the other side
And we’ll be together for all of time
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Red Letters
Red letters
Cut deep
Soothe the pain inside.
Red letters
Bold and loud
Scream silently.
Red letters
Secret and hidden
But a cry for help.
Red letters -
A way to deal with this pain.
As I cut these words into my skin
I remember seeing red words somewhere before
Then it hits me like a lightning bolt -
Words of Jesus are printed in red. Words of Christ in red.
Red letters
Real truth, piercing deep
Soothes my pain inside.
Red letters
Your passion, Your blood
Covers me.
Red letters
Hope and life
I cry, 'Fill me! '
Red letters -
You were pierced and bloody
So I wouldn't have to be.
'What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Oh! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow!
No other fount I know -
Nothing but the blood of Jesus! '
Red letters... Nothing but the blood -
Red letters... Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
poem by Zoe MacRae
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Moment You Arrived
The moment you arrived,
I knew you too.
Your eyes penetrated through,
My inhabitions hidden.
And free I felt to be myself.
With a flow between us,
Growing unrestricted...
To dissolve blocking walls,
Easily.
The moment you arrived...
To recognize you and I,
Could provide...
Communicated conversation,
No longer waiting with a patience to connect.
We knew what to expect would be accepted,
Next.
And we knew,
Anticipated steps directed...
Without the benefit of a single guess,
Would never again be neglected.
The moment you arrived,
I knew you too.
Your eyes penetrated through,
My inhabitions hidden.
And free I felt to be myself.
With a flow between us,
Growing unrestricted...
To dissolve blocking walls,
Easily.
The moment you arrived,
I...
Cried with joy,
Inside.
I...
Cried with joy,
I attempted to hide...
The moment you arrived.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Was There
In this world when you first arrived
I was there at your mothers side,
Holding her hand, I was filled with pride,
I was there when you first arrived.
It was I alone who rubbed your hair
It was I who counted your fingers and toes,
And I was I who proudly held you first
And it was I alone who rubbed your nose.
When you first arrived in this world
It was I, who was thinking is it a boy or a girl
But then to myself, I really didn't care,
As long as you arrived, to answer my prayer.
I was there with you every step of the way
I watched your birth, and your coming of age
And what I say now, I say with both a vigor and pride,
That I was there, when you first arrived.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Among The Ashes
In among the ashes
of your old love letters
the fragments of your
contemptuous love lay.
The hopes that were dashed
when the chips were down.
The dreams that you abandoned
in the games you played.
In among the ashes
of your old love letters
the fragments of your
flirtatious heart lay.
The constant cheating
that brought our stronghold down.
The flames now licking wounds
of your constant forays.
In among the ashes
of your old love letters
the fragments of what
could have been lay.
Instead, I’m burning bridges
putting the past and you behind.
Burning your old love letters
that you left behind
to taunt and remind me
of the love I thought was mine.
Now the ashes I scatter to the four winds
and the place to where you might have gone
abandoning home and family
for just another fling.
26 August 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
When I Let Go...
When I let go, it was because
I couldn't hold on any longer,
And so I relaxed knowing the worst
Was behind me,
I finally let her go forever
From my heart and mind...
I could no longer be overwhelmed
By fear or anxiety
Riding on a life with no handrails
And no seats left
When the time arrived
To move on toward a new horizon...
poem by Romeo Della Valle
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
50 Years Later
I have no letter to show you my son
Said the modern father to his
Postmodern son.
Epistolary novel is a form of past
Why are you worried about such
Trivial matters like letter?
Asked the modern father to his
Postmodern son.
I got sms in my message box
I got mails in my pc
And deleted to make way to
New ones
Nothing remains forever dear
Said the proud father to his son.
I read about letters in little mags
My friends say it was really amazing
To share thoughts, feelings
Through letters
But you have nothing to show me
Ha! It's really very sad!
You should have some letters dad!
Said the postmodern son.
poem by Amitabh Roy
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
An Autumn Letter
I want to write a letter to someone in the autumn
In the Autumn, I see lonely fountain streamed from a deep valley
And want to wet the lonely heart
I write a letter in the autumn night but knowing that cannot be sent in the morning
Now there is a postman who delivers letters in the air in the days and nights
So I am sending letters
I regret but the unsent letters always cry
I send the thread tied letters in the air without stamps
The letters of the poet opens its eyes with holding their breaths
poem by Kyungdae Min
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Now Amongst Us
What will they do,
With beliefs no longer relevant?
What thoughts will they think...
When they had few from the start.
Concepts of realities are going to change,
So quick!
What was relied upon to defend...
Is ending a falsity 'asumed' as legitimate!
With aliens crossing borders,
And landing in backyards...
People aren't prepared for these events,
Descending and coming down upon them hard!
Too many folks are seeing UFO's...
As common as lies to them are told!
And how we all arrived on this planet...
Is about to change historic episodes,
And many will be lost to comprehend...
Left crazed in a daze to understand it!
What will they do,
With beliefs no longer relevant?
What thoughts will they think...
When they had few from the start.
Concepts of realities are going to change,
So quick!
Many will be traumatized...
To learn we are powerless,
Against those of advanced minds...
Now amongst us that have arrived to visit!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Revolution Now
they're calling for revolution!
things must change!
the only sword we carry is truth...
as we march with justice
and equality...
what's past is past!
we cannot change
what's already been done.
the only way to heal the wounds
of the past is to create a future...
a future that begins with today!
no longer divided by color or creed,
we march hand to heart as one.
knowing that no man is free
until every man is free!
(and woman, and child...)
no longer owned by the things
we possess, and owning no man.
no longer bound by self-oriented
idealologies... the barrier between us
is no more...
today is the day,
now is the moment....
history waits for no one!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!